Marti Valentin

Valentin Marti was born in Zürich. He graduated from Zurich Conservatory with degrees in classical saxophone (1987-94 Urs Schoch, Marcus Weiss) and studies in composition (1991-95 Gerald Bennet). From 1995 until 1997 he made additional studies in composition under Michael Jarrell in Vienna at the School of Music and Performing Arts.
He is currently active as a free-lance musician (mainly of contemporary music), as a member of various contemporary chamber music ensembles, and an instrumental tutor. He is a member of the board of ISCM (International Society of Contemporary Music) in Zurich, and since 1993 president thereof.
He won second prize at the International Composer's Competition of Klagenfurt in Austria (1997), was awarded a special prize by the 'Universal Edition' in Salzburg in Austria (1997), received a honourable mention at the 'Premio Valentino Bucchi' in Rome (1997), achievement award from the Zollikon council in 2002, received a commission for a composition from the canton of Zurich and was awarded a sabbatical year for composition by the city of Zurich in 2003. Valentin Marti lives in Zurich.

Work list

Quintett für Klarinette und Streichquartett (1993)A sound world, oscillating between expressivity and absolute non-expressivity, is created from a simple initial motive.
First performed by the ‘Ensemble Opera Nova’ in Zurich, 04.12.95.

Tres sendas espinosas (1995)for flute (alto flute) clarinet (bass clarinet), violin, violoncello, percussion and pianoPaths leading nowhere, a search leading to nothingness; subsurface there is a trace that, in its lack of direction, actually depicts the way. In three parts. This piece was first performed on 23.5.1997 in Zurich by the Ensemble for New Music (Zurich) under the direction of Johannes Harneit. Duration: 15' 00"

Euphotic Circles (1996)for soprano saxophone solo and ensemble (fl.cl/tpt/perc/pf/vn.va.vc.db)"The fascinating colours, the successful combination of the three wind players and their perfect connection with the string players are very well mastered from a formal point of view, they let arise an ensemble piece in the truest sense of the word. (S. Palm)
World premiere: 31.7.97, Klagenfurt, Janus-Ensemble Wien Robert HP Platz (cond.).

Rainshadows (1996-1999)for bass clarinet, trombone, violoncello and percussionShadowy diffused sounds are generated below the sound spectrum of the rainstick. Sounds which, the stronger and more corporeal they appear, the more fragile they really are.
Requires three rainsticks.
First performed by the 'Ensemble Avance' in Baden, 25.02.00.Duration: 10' 30"

Sculpture (1997)for violoncello soloFine tonal shapes are sculpted out of crude blocks. A piece with a high physical intensity (tremolo). First performed on the 28.04.97 in Vienna by Attila Pasztor.Duration: 8' 00"

Floating (1997)for piccolo / alto flute, oboe and soprano saxophoneFragile transitions between noise and tone, fluctuating chromatic modulations and a metric that masks the rhythm are characteristics of this trio.
World premiere: 28.9.97 in Wädenswil, by theTrio Lepic.

Treibholz (1997-1998)for three Renaissance tenor recordersThe Renaissance recorder is a rewardingly simple instrument produced from a single piece of wood. It was perfectly natural for me to use very little material and write very simply for this instrument.
First performed in Zurich on 03.06.1998 by ‘Six Hands’.

Duration: 12' 00"

Mieroprint

Postfach 5544D-48030 Münster

On a Darkling Plain (1998)for accordion, violoncello and four-handed pianoCombined polymerized growth, a sudden break and darkening decolouration. A subtle coordinated sound balance is essential for this piece.
First performed: 13.7.98 in Klagenfurt by the Austrian Art Ensemble.

Marmoradern - latent (1998-1999)for wind octet (ob.ob,ca.cl,bcl.2hn.2bn)A composition in the area of conflict between ‘Aleph’ (the all embracing) and ‘Zahir’ (bearer of the “appalling nature of the unforgettable” (J.L.Borges)), the (apparently) conflictive central ideas of two novels by J.L. Borges.
First perfromed in Zurich, 23.3.99 by Octomania.

Wurzelholz (2000)for tenor recorder or any other woodwind instrument (alto flute, oboe, tenor saxophone...)For a different woodwind instrument to the recorder, a somewhat smoother effect because the extreme registers of the recorder have a greater influence on the tone than other instruments with a wider range.First performed in Wädenswil 04.02.01 by Rico Gubler (tsx).Duration: 6' 20"

Passages (2000)for viola, piccolo/bass flute, baritone saxophone, guitar and percussion‘Passages’ is determined by a hugely formal changing process, beginning with block-like, vertical melodies of the solo viola, leading to a linear, horizontal notation with five equal instrumental parts. Quarter tonal.
First performed: 28..8.00 in St.Moritz by the Ensemble Cattrall under the direction of Marc Kissoczy.

Fernruf J 12 (2001) for soprano, oboe, violoncello and pianoTexts: Alltags- Werbe- MedienspracheThe basis of the text for ‘Fernruf J 12’ is the the list of the Bolshevist musicians from the Berlin department for art preservation from 1935: it is the list of musicians which had to be displaced from the music scene. The piece works, from a musical point of view, with different levels of understanding i.e. repression and forgetting.
World premier: 22.05.02 in Basel by the aequator ensemble.

Blendung (2001)for a large orchestra (3.3.3.3/4.3.3.1/5perc/pf.hp/14.12.10.8.6)Three movements attacca: I nebel; (haze) II schleier; (mist) III blendung (glare). The simple basic idea of ‘Blendung’ is the process of constant accentuation in the musical course of action, to lurid density during the third movement.
First performed on 26.04.02 in Bern by the Bern Symphony Orchestra under the direction of D. Kitajenko.

Nachtschatten (2001)for clarinet and pianoThe work with under blown tones is an essential part of this composition. The fingered overblown tones sound merely as a reflection of the under blown shadow-sound.
First performed: 26.5.02 in Zollikon by Sarah Chardonnens-Lehmann (clar.), Eriko Kagawa (piano).

splitting (2002)for clarinet, violoncello and pianoA tone is coloured and set in motion, fragments of this tone develop their own life, fan out and become tonally coloured.
First performed in Basel 04.06.02 by the Avalon Trio.

Tempio in tre impressioni (2004) for Rennaissance alto recorder and percussion'Tempio in tre impressioni' associates three imaginary encounters with the remains of the portico of a Doric temple, each from a different temporal perspective. The percussion consists of a 'Ching' (a Korean gong) or similar instrument, 2 templeblocks, a very high tambourine and a large framedrum.
World Premiere: 24.9.04, Malans, strumentale operaDuration: 8' 30"

Le Journal de Sisyphos (2003-2005) for saxophone quartetFive movements with partly alternating instrumentation (satb – ttbb), a continual upward movement of the piece's harmonic concept with simultaneous individual downward draughts… the knowledge of the aimlessness / futility of human action leads to the realisation that the experience of every moment, that (artistic) creation, as absurd as it seems, is the ultimate representation of the meaning of life (after Camus).
World premiere: 18.9.05, Lugano, 4tenors (Journées 1-3); 30.5.08, Zurich, 4tenors (Journées 1-5)Duration: 23' 00"

im Wind geschliffen (Segesta II) (2006)for two recorders, violin, violoncello and harpsichordVarious positions or points of origin lead to different perceptions, to different truths about an object or event. Minimally displaced observation points lead to a drifting apart and drifting together of individual lines, to individual stickings on a single tone or form of articulation.Duration: 12' 00"

In der Kälte des tauenden Eises (2006-2007/09)for pipa, violoncello and clarinetA work for two European instruments (clarinet and violoncello) and one Chinese instrument (pipa).
The title describes a non-stable state out of which various musical and cultural developments are possible.Duration: 7' 30"

Pintxo 1 (2007)for violin soloThe Baskian variant of tapas was the model for this piece: each a work of art in itself, but designed for consumption.
World premiere: 6.5.07, Vevey, Valérie Bernard.Duration: 1' 00"

Charon schläft (2007) ... kein Notturnofor tenor saxophone soloRawness is as present as lightness, crudeness as present as elegance and obstinacy as present as excursiveness. Sound palette features specific to the tenor saxophone. Many special fingerings are derived directly from standard fingerings.
World premiere: 23.4.08, Zurich, Marcus WeissDuration: 10' 00"

White Screen (2009)for ensemble (fl, cl, bcl, tsx, tbn, 2 perc, pf, vn, va, vc, db)"White Screen" is the music to a film playing on an empty screen, that is to say, a series of images, colours or movements that takes place solely in the imagination of the listener. The initial starting point of this composition was a tale that (for me) still haunts music, a tale I would rather not tell…
World premiere: 5.11.09, Zurich, Ensemble Laboratorium, Pierre-André ValadeDuration: 13' 00"